Japan’s new bullet train to link Tokyo and Hokkaidō
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter

Travel in Japan is about to get a whole lot easier. A new bullet train (shinkansen) running from Tokyo to Hakodate debuted 26 March, linking Japan's main island of Honshū with the northernmost island of Hokkaidō for the first time.
The highly anticipated 92-mile trip is expected to take just over four hours — 53 minutes faster than the transportation currently available — and it makes use of the undersea Seikan Tunnel, reported the Japan Times.
Outskirt cities currently linked by the bullet train have seen an economic boost since its arrival, with the number of passengers tripling in one year when service from Tokyo was extended from Nagano to Kanazawa, in the Ishikawa Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast. While this debut comes 52 years after bullet train service was introduced between Tokyo and Osaka, there are plans to expand the line over the next 15 years to the region’s capital of Sapporo.
The article originally appeared on Travel + Leisure
-
Rimowa violin case with Gewa strikes the right note
This new Rimowa violin case created in collaboration with Gewa is made of hard-wearing grooved aluminium
By Hannah Silver • Published
-
Nordic Knots opens Stockholm showroom in a former cinema
New Nordic Knots Stockholm showroom makes the most of the dramatic interiors of the early-20th-century Eriksbergsteatern
By Pei-Ru Keh • Published
-
Jordanluca’s latest collection is inspired by Freud’s death drive
Self-destruction, sabotage and teenage angst inform Jordanluca’s S/S 2023 collection, which explores the pursuit of dangerous pleasures
By Jack Moss • Published
-
Lexus RC F swaps the marque’s tech-first attitude for pure power
By Jonathan Bell • Last updated
-
Streets ahead: the most forward-thinking vehicles from the Tokyo 2015 Motorshow
By Guy Bird • Last updated
-
Tokyo Motor Show 2013: the top 10 cars
By Jonathan Bell • Last updated
-
Development news from Honda’s Japan HQ
By Nargess Shahmamesh Banks • Last updated
-
Japanese car design
By Jonathan Bell • Last updated